Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : CheckFree Holdings Corp. (CKFR), the next Dell, Intel? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rob C. who wrote (10251)	9/17/1999 12:25:00 PM
From: zuma_rk	Respond to of 20297

I don't know about you guys, but I read an article like this and see dollar signs in Pete Kight's eyes: cbs.marketwatch.com Let those auction battles begin Dell, Microsoft, Lycos, ExciteAtHome vs. EBay By Bambi Francisco and Mike Tarsala CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 11:51 AM ET Sep 17, 1999 Internet Daily Net Headlines SAN JOSE, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Shares of EBay dropped 5 percent by midday Friday on news that a coalition of technology giants are arraying their guns for a massive assault on the online auction giant's dominance. About 100 companies, including Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs), Dell Computer (DELL: news, msgs), Lycos (LCOS: news, msgs) and ExciteAtHome (ATHM: news, msgs) will band together to offer auction services across their Internet sites. Together, the sites should draw 47 million users, says Scott Randall, founder and chief executive of FairMarket Inc., a private Woburn, Mass. company that will run the auctions. "This is huge; It's basically all the other sites, other than EBay," Randall said in an interview with CBS MarketWatch.com. "Even the big, big players like Microsoft realize that they can't do it by themselves." Shares of EBay (EBAY: news, msgs) fell 7 1/2 to 144 1/2 on the news. At the same time, Lycos (LCOS: news, msgs) rose 1 3/16, or 2.8 percent, to 44 3/16; ExciteAtHome gained 1/2, or 1.3 percent, to 37 7/8. Dell Computer (DELL: news, msgs) and Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) were trading higher as well. The companies plan to share the lucrative profit auctions can bring. The company that lists an item for sale will receive a third of auction transaction fees -- usually 2 percent or 3 percent of an item's cost. The company that attracts a buyer for an item also will get a third. FairMarket also will receive a third. FairMarket also will profit by hosting the auction sites on its computer servers, which can fetch fees of $10,000 monthly or more. Critical mass The new auction network is set to begin Monday with about 70,000 auction listings. That compares with nearly 3.5 million listings for EBay. Randall said FairMarket has been working since June 1998 to attract all the companies in the auction coalition. "It took a long time to work on the big guys," Randall said. Several individual auction companies have tried to take market share from EBay and have failed. Analysts say the new auction could be EBay's first significant challenge. "EBay shareholders should not be cavalier about this," said Faye Landes, an Internet analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners, who has a "market outperform" rating. Bidding on Dell Like EBay, the auction network will host auctions that link individual buyers and sellers. But Microsoft, Dell and others hope to sell their wares over the network of sites. Dell will sell its own wares on the auction site linked to dell.com. But its computers also can be auctioned across sites hosted by Microsoft's MSN site, as well as others. "Person-to-person auctions have taken off so far," Randall said. "But the merchant-to-person growth will be phenomenal." . Bambi Francisco is Internet editor of CBS MarketWatch. Mike Tarsala is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.